Loving Liberals

We conservatives are used to being called hate-mongers. Typically we are characterized as racists, bigots or homophobes. Our ideas don't matter because they are born of intolerance and hatred of some group or other. Liberals, on the other hand, are loving. They are the tolerant ones. Their ideas are born out of kindness and acceptance of all mankind. Well, here are some recent examples of the loving liberals being tolerant.

The day following the Tea Parties, actress and comedienne Jenene Garafalo appeared on a television news program. She said that the Tea Parties had nothing to do with the Boston Tea Party in that the attendees do not know anything about that historic event. Perhaps she would have us dress as the so-called Indians of the time to prove our bona fides. She says that the only reason the Tea Partiers gathered was because of hatred of a black President. She went on to say that the Tea Parties were "racism straight-up" and the attendees were "a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks."

As I'm sure most Tea Partiers were, I was dismayed by Ms. Garafalo's statements because my disagreements with the President have nothing to do with race; they are philosophical and principled differences. During the Bush administration, Mrs. Clinton told us dissent was patriotic, now Jenene Garafalo says it's racist. Also, the Tea Partiers were not just protesting the President but the members of Congress as well, the vast majority of which are white. The added outrage is that Garafalo's statements were made not on some left-wing opinion radio show but on an "unbiased" mainstream cable television network. Furthermore, Garafalo was in no way challenged or asked to defend her position by anyone on the network.

A couple of weeks later, I watched an interview with Jenene Garafalo in which she explained that the reason she dismissed the Tea Parties as racist. There was a sign at one Tea Party with a message that she regarded to be racist. Two hundred and fifty thousand people attended and one sign causes the entire movement to be racist. But don't look for Ms. Garafalo to retract her statements anytime soon as she declared that she had nothing for which to apologize.

As we all know, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, during the Miss USA Pageant was asked a question by Perez Hilton about whether all states should recognize same-sex marriage. Let's remember that Miss Prejean did not voluntarily inject herself into the same-sex marriage debate. She was asked a direct question and answered that question honestly, according to her values. For this, Miss Prejean has been subjected to some of the vilest, most hate filled attacks imaginable especially by Hilton on his blog and another gay writer, Michael Musto, who graphically described how Carrie was a man who underwent a sex change. Miss Prejean has received precious little support from anyone in the media and now some cheesecake photos of her surfaced and have been splashed all over television news in an effort to further embarrass her.

Lastly, we have comedienne Wanda Sykes who spoke at the White House Correspondents Dinner. In order to be totally honest, I must admit that I have never found Ms. Sykes to be very amusing. After confining the bulk of her remarks to good natured jabs at the President and First Lady, she decided to go after Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and conservative talkers Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Sykes used a crude, sexually related phrase to suggest that Palin did not properly teach her daughter abstinence. Sykes then asserted that Limbaugh's stated desire for Obama's socialist agenda to fail was treasonous. She further claimed that Limbaugh was the missing twentieth 9/11 hijacker but missed the flight due to his past dependence on prescription pain medication. Sykes next declared that she hoped Limbaugh's kidneys would fail. Finally, she wished for the water boarding of Sean Hannity at the hands of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. None of these attacks seemed to garner much laughter from the audience, although Obama appeared to enjoy them. Then again, maybe that's the point.

So you see, the warm and fuzzy liberals are the most tolerant among us. Any deviant, abhorrent behavior is gladly accepted. They are open-minded and accepting of alternative lifestyles and choices. Yes, our friends on the left will tolerate pretty much anything; anything, that is, except disagreement.